In testing network devices, such as switches, routers, firewalls, network address translators, servers, storage devices, etc., it is desirable to send a mix of traffic to the devices that simulates the traffic that the devices would experience in live networks. For network devices that are intended to operate in networks that carry traffic of different types, such as voice, data, and video traffic, it is desirable to generate a mix of simulated traffic that includes all of these types. In addition, because network devices will encounter streams of different packet sizes in real world deployments, it is desirable to test devices with a mix of different packet sizes. For example, when performing a stress test of a network device, such as a firewall, it may be desirable to see how the device performs when receiving a stream of small packets, such as 64 kilobyte packets versus how the device performs when receiving a stream of larger packets, such as 1500 kilobyte packets.
Because a realistic mix of packets sizes is desirable during testing, efforts have been made to standardize test traffic mixes. For Internet connected devices, a mix of packet sizes for which some standardization efforts have occurred is referred to as an Internet mix or IMIX of packets. There is no standard IMIX of packets that is valid for all network devices, as different network devices see different mixes of packet sizes. However, IETF RFC 6985, entitled IMIX Genome, describes a method for specifying different Internet mixes of traffic.
As a result of the need to test network devices using different mixes of traffic, some network equipment test devices, such as the Ixia Xcellon load modules with IxNetwork software, are capable of generating an IMIX of simulated traffic where the simulated packets have different sizes. However, one feature that is not known to be implemented by current network equipment test devices is the ability to easily specify and implement burst profiles that vary in time for simulated network traffic. Current network test devices allow specification of a traffic rate, e.g., in bits per second, and a fixed time between successive packet transmissions. However, there is currently a need for a test device that facilitates implementation of variable and realistic burst profiles for simulated test traffic.
In light of these difficulties, there exists a need for methods, systems, and computer readable media for testing network devices using variable traffic burst profiles.